Donald Rumsfeld hardly
had time to clear his desk at the Pentagon before the Rajavi cult began
sending out distress signals.

The cult told human
rights monitors that - based on statements
by the Iraqi government that the terrorist MKO in
Camp Ashraf can stay in Iraq only until the end of this year -
the residents of Camp Ashraf were
in imminent danger of deportation
to Iran and that they would be immediately executed
the moment they set foot in that country.

The panic, however, was not over
events in Iraq or Iran - to where over 500 Mojahedin
members have already been safely repatriated under an ongoing amnesty
agreement - but over the realignment of the political map of the US
government in which Rajavi's erstwhile supporters were the main losers.

The actual fate of the
3,000 remaining residents of Camp Ashraf is the last of Rajavi's concerns; except
in how to prolong the death throes of the cult as it slowly, painfully, inevitably
dissolves from within.

For the past three years, in her desperation, Rajavi
has positioned her organisation's members for maximum suffering and
exploitation by offering the people in Camp Ashraf as a
mercenary 'force' to anyone in the west who seeks to use any tool in their efforts
to confront Iran, in total disregard for their actual
willingness or capability.

Thus, parties from all sides
have been taught by Rajavi to regard the
Mojahedin-e Khalq as a political football, as a tool with which to
pursue their
various policiesof confrontation with Iran - naturally for their own national interests and
not in order to help the Iranian people's struggles toward secular
democracy.

From one point of view we
learn that "[Robert] Gates had
[in 2004] proposed engaging Syria and Iran in a dialogue while offering incentives and
brandishing sanctions at the same time. He argued that dialogue and openness
energize civic society as an instrument for change in the two countries. He
also proposed the trade-off of dismantling the Iranian opposition Mujahidin-e-Khalq
in Iraq in return for Iran's suspension of its support for the Shi'i
militias in southern Lebanon." (Source:
Al-Sharq al-Awsat website, London, in Arabic 18 November 2006)

From another point of
view we have Rabbi Daniel M. Zucker quoting the July 26, 2006 Congressional Record
which "called for an end to the Iranian regime's meddling in Iraq and
emphasized the political refugee status of Ashraf residents in that country."
Rabbi Zucker states, "It is time to recognize and cooperate with the
NCRI [aka Mojahedin-e Khalq] so as to nullify the
efforts of Tehran to spread extremist Islam. (Source:
U.S. Newswire/ -- On Tuesday, November 14, 2006)

What
the schemes of these and other parties do not acknowledge is that the individuals in Camp Ashraf are
exactly that, individuals. It is only on Rajavi's terms that the people
there comprise a group. According to Rajavi the Mojahedin-e Khalq is
an 'opposition movement poised to erase the ruling Islamic Republic of Iran
in its entirety so as to replace it with a secular democracy which respects
human rights', with, of course, Rajavi herself as the president.

But
the reality inside Camp Ashraf is shockingly different from the fictional
image Rajavi has presented for western consumption. The residents of Camp
Ashraf have been kept there (for over two decades) through the systematic
and brutal imposition of cult culture. Through the pernicious use of
isolation, psychological coercion, and extrajudicial punishment, which
results in a ruthless denial of even their most basic human rights, Rajavi
has kept the residents of Camp Ashraf in conditions of modern slavery where
the 'shackles' are not merely physical (the residents have no money or
possessions) but are largely psychological. By now refusing to allow them
help from international humanitarian bodies and by refusing to enact the
most basic requirements of their protected persons status under the Fourth
Geneva Convention, not least of which is Article 116 which states: 'Every
internee shall be allowed to receive visitors, especially near relatives, at
regular intervals and as frequently as possible.
As far as is possible, internees shall be permitted to visit their homes in
urgent cases, particularly in cases of death or serious illness of
relatives.' Maryam Rajavi
has taken
upon herself the responsibility for condemning these people to a living
death.

This 'Mojahedin-e Khalq'
is not a viable force with which to confront Iran. This 'Mojahedin-e Khalq'
is a cult whose members are enslaved to Rajavi's ambitions for power at any
cost. This 'Mojahedin-e Khalq' is not a tool which can be bandied about in
the political scene or bargained and traded with. The residents of Camp
Ashraf who comprise Rajavi's 'Mojahedin-e Khalq' are victims of gross human
rights abuses. They must be rescued not used.

Above all, those in the
west who believe they can use the group in their foreign policy, whether to
threaten or cajole, would do well to face the simple fact that the name
'Mojahedin' no longer holds currency in Iranian political circles, whether in
the ruling regime or in the opposition to it. As such it is a redundant factor.
But, do not disregard it. Please, please rescue the residents of Camp Ashraf
from Rajavi's clutches before more people die.